Malcolm Harkins, CISO of Intel was quick to embrace BYOD as a means to cut costs and improve employee productivity. His advice to leaders struggling with the trend: "Don't shy away from the risk issues."

"It's going to happen because everybody has [mobile devices] in their pockets today," says Harkins, who has overseen Intel's enterprise-wide BYOD initiative. "So, they're already bringing them into your enterprise. The question is whether or not they're hooking them up."

At Intel, the global computer chip manufacturer, the BYOD trend started about two years ago, and senior leaders were quick to embrace it as a means to cut costs and improve productivity. Since Jan. 2010, the number of employee-owned mobile devices on the job has tripled from 10,000 to 30,000, and by 2014 Harkins expects that 70 percent of Intel's 80,000 employees will be using their own devices for at least part of their job.

Harkins is an advocate of the business benefits of BYOD, but he also appreciates the risks and the need to enforce strict policies. His advice to organizations just now struggling with the trend: "Don't shy away from the risk issues. Figure out how to run to the risk to shape it. If you ignore it, you're going to have the risk, and it's going to be bigger than if you go and get in front of it."

Harkins is vice president of Intel's Information Technology Group and CISO and general manager of information risk and security. The group is responsible for managing the risk, controls, privacy, security and other related compliance activities for all of Intel's information assets.

Before becoming Intel's first CISO, Harkins held roles in Finance, Procurement and Operations. He has managed efforts encompassing IT benchmarking and Sarbanes Oxley systems compliance. Joining Intel in 1992, Harkins previously held positions as the profit and loss manager for the Flash Products Group; general manager of Enterprise Capabilities, responsible for the delivery and support of Intel's finance and HR systems; and in an Intel business venture focusing on e-commerce hosting.